Water-meter with automatic governor



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WATER METER WITH AUTOMATICY GOV EEEE R.

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J. LEEDB.

l, WATER METER W-ITE AUTOMATIG GOVERNOR.. No. 252,229

Patented Jan. 10,1882l N. PETERS, Pwln-limoraphlr. Wasillngwn. D. C.

' mechanism.

UNITep STATES PATENT @einem WATER-METER WITH AUTIVIATIC GOVERNOR.

sPEcIFIcATIoN forming part of Letters Patent N o. 252,229, ldated January 10, 18E2. Application filed June 2l, 198|.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JULIUS LEEDE, of Washin gton city, District of Columbia, havcinvcn ted a new and Improved W ater-Meter; and l do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same. Numerous attempts have'been made to provide a water-meter which is reliable and accurate under varying heads or degrees of pressure of water, also not liable to get out ot' order, and at the same time durable and not too expensive.

It is the object of my invention to furnish a meter which possesses these qualities, and to this end I contemplate one whose operation is not dependent upon any particular head ordegree of pressure in the supply-pipe other than that which is requisite t0 cause a tlow or move- `ment of the water when required, it being in this respect distinguished from the meters usually employed.

The operation ot' 1n yim proved meter depends upon the buoyancy ot' the water, which, acting upon oats, causes them to rise and fall and operate registering mechanism according to the quantity of water passed through and discharged from the meter. No head or pressure of water being required, the meter is in practice located in the upper portion of the d welling or other building to which water is supplied, and the pressure at the several dischargespigots is therefore such as is due to the height of thecolumn, or, in other words, to the vertical distance between the meter and the spi gots.

The principal feature of the invention is the governor, which automatically regulates the action of the meter according to the quantity of water discharge( It is practically an automatic cu t-oft'for controlling theiuduction and discharge according as more or less water is drawn offfrom one or more spigots in the building where the meter is located. rllie water iiows through and actuates the governor by rise and fall within a suitable receptacle, thereby acting directlyr to open or close the valves that control the liow.

' In accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of my improved meter, portions being removed or broken away to better show the construction. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same without the dial recording Fig. 3 is a horizontal section ot' the meter on line so, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 illust a'tes the arrangement ot the mete and its connection with the service-pipe and aI dischargespigot.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3 the cocks E T T are shown constructed with narrowpassages; butin practice the latter will be of the same diameter as the pipes,which will be provided with enlarged sockets to accommodate them.

The ed action-governor constituting the main feature of novelty, it is described hereinafter with corresponding particularity, and the other parts are described more in detail. in an application tiled by me February 17, 1881, for a recording mechanism for spirit-meters, patented July 5, 1881.

The meter being placed at the top or in the upper portion ot` the dwelling or other building to which wateris supplied, the service or supply pipe A, Figs. 1 and 4, delivers the water into the cylinder or receptacle B, which forms part oan indnotion-governor,whose remaining portions are a iioat, C, a lever, l), of the third class, to which it is attached, and a weighted (or spring) plug valve orcock, E, which is placed in the supply-pipe A and operated by said lever-that is to say,when the quantity of water supplied to the cylinder B exceeds the discharge therefrom the iioat G is raised, but when water is drawn ofiit falls, which causes a correspondingmovement of the lever D, thus closing or opening the cock E, and either hindering or allowing acceleration ot' the Iiow of water through pipe A. From said receptacle B the water passes through pipe F and lateral branches F', Fig. 3, into the meter or measuring cylinders G G, such passage being controlled by a four-way cock, H, as will be herein after'explained. The said cylinders are tilled alternately, and of manner. In other words, one is always being iilled while the other is being emptied.4 This alternationyin direction ol duced by the shifting four-way cock ILwhieh is located atthej unetion ofpipe F and its branches F F', as shown in Fig. 3. Curved lateral arms a are attached to the head ot' this cock to serve as tappets, which are acted on by the pivotcd lever K as it isy thrown alternately from right to left, and the reverse. Said lever has a sprin g attachment, b, which serves to hold it fixed in either of the two positions which it may assume,

course discharged in like the current is pro- IOO and also to throw it quickly into such positions after passing the point. which is midway between them--thatis to say, the point which is midway between the limits of the movement of the lever. It will be understood, therefore, that the vibration of the lever K shifts the valve ll from one diagonal position to the other', and thus causes it to cut otf' the iiow of water into one measuring-cylinder while allowing supply to the other, as will be readily understood by inspection ofl Fig. 3.

rThe required movement of level' K is caused by the rise and fall ot' the floats L L in the meter-cylinders G G, which is communicated through the medium ofl the lever or beam to which the floats are pivoted and the forked arm M, attached to the pivot c of' said beamthat is to say, as the water fills one cylinder and discharges from the other it buoys and raises one float L, while allowing` the other to t'all. lonsrquently the beam N oscillates so long as the water llows. The discharge of' the contentsof' the meter-cylinders (-,l is made alternately through the same pipe F and laterals F F as thc'supply is received, and thence through the nozzle 0 into the receptacle l, whence the water passes into the pipeQ, that distributes it through the buildiufr. (Sec Figs. l and 4.) The oscillation ofthe beam N operates dial registering mechanism shown in Fig. l through the medium of' pawls that are pivoted to said beam and act on a ratchetwheel, whose shaft is suitablyT geared with the registering mechanism proper.

The cylinder I contains a float, R, attached to a bent lever, S, of the third class. The free end of' said lever is connected byalink, d, with the arm c ofthe cock T, that controls the eduction from the meter-cylinder G. The cock T is also connected by means of' a bar,f, with another cock, T', located in pipe F between the imluction-governor cylinder B and the fourway cock H, so that both cocks open or close simultaneously, thus allowing` discharge from or cutting offl supply to the meter-cylinders Gr G, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the water flows freely from the governor-cylinder B into the meter-cylinders Gr, and thence into the receptacle I.

The operation of the, meter as a whole and the special functions of individual parts may be further illustrated as follows: lt' the induction-governor i3 C l) were dispensed with, the meter would operate successfully only so long as the discharge atthe spi gots equals the inflow through pipo A; but whenever the discharge at the spigots should be. either wholly or partially arrested, the infiow continuing, the water would accumulate in the meter-cylinders G and overflow the iioats L, thus rendering the mea-surement inaccurate, since the cylinders and iioats are necessarily so gaged relative to each other that a definite quantity-say a gallon-is measured when the water raises the float to a certain height without overowiug it.

It the cock T be dispensed with, the measurement would also he inaccurate, because one of' the meter-cylinders G would continue to fill after the discharge -from the other had been cut ofi' by closing cock T, so that an undue quantity of water would accumulate thereinthat is to say, a sufficient quantity to overflow the fioat in such cylinder, and that excess 'could not be measured. It', on the other h-and, the cock T be dispensed with, the discharge of' one of the meter-cylinders would be continued until it is empty, while the supply would be cut oit from the other by cock T', and thus again inaccurate measurement would result.

The operation ot' the inductiongovernor is indirectly and that of' the cocks T T directly dependent upon the eduction-gorernor P R S.

The successful operation of the meter asa` whole is therefore dependent upon. the latter, since it serves. as an automatic cut-off, regulating not only the discharge from the meter, but also the first inflow, and the subsequent supply to the meter-cylinders as well. If the discharge-pipe Q have ten spigots attached, then the supply-pipe A should have at least an equal and preferably a greater diameter or capacity, in order that the quantity of water supplied to the meter may be sufficient to allow simultaneous discharge from all the spigots, if required. If', then, all the spigots be opened at one time, the water in the eduction-governor receptacle l will be drawn ofi", so that the float lt therein will f'all and completely open the cocks T and T-in other words, open them to their full capacity-so that the water will flow in full stream into and from the meter-cylin- IOC ders G and governor-receptacle P. The water l in the induction-governor receptacle B being thus drawn off, the float() necessarily falls also, and the cock E thus being opened like the others, T T', a full stream has, so to speak, free course through the machine. In other Words, the meter then works up to its f'ull capacity. It', however, only a portion-say one-of the ten spigots be discharging` at onetime, it is obvious that but one-tenth of the capacity of the luetcr and its supply and discharge pipes would be availed of', and in such case the ioats R and C would fall but one-tenth the distance required in the previous instance, and the cocks T T' and E open but one-tenth. Similarly, it' tive spigots discharge simultaneously, themeter would run to one-halt' its capacity, and the tloats would f'all and 'cocks open one-halt' the distance they do when teu spigots are open. ln short, the governor l lt S perfectly and automaticall y regulates the action of the meter according to the quantity of water discharged, controlling` the induction and eduction of' the metercylinders, and thereby also the recording mechanism, so that a false record is impossible; and this is done without being affected by variations in the head or pressure ot' water in the main and service-pipe. ter is therefore subject to no irregularity'of aetion such as constitutes the chief objection to wheel and piston meters, but is always uniform according to the discharge.

I will also here note a fact from which I de- IOS IIO

IIS

The merive a great advantageto wit, in all cases where meters are operated by the pressure ot' water, it is obvious they retard the force ot' the current or flow in the servicespipe to a greater or lessdegree, and in many instances this retardation is sufcient to prevent any discharge from spi gots in the upper stories of a building, whereas my meter oii'ers no obstruction whatever to the force of the current, but allows it full el'ect. I will also remark that, in order to still further promote the free ow of water in theservice-pipe, I propose to not only make use ot' one having an unusually large diameter, but to carry itup with few or no abrupt bends or angles from the main to the place where it is attached to the meter, since a pipe ot' small diameter and making sharp turns greatly retards the vpassage of the water, owing to friction. By use, therefore, ot' such a service-pipe and my improved form of meter located at the highest point in a building Where the water is required to be distributed, the annoyances and dit'ticulties incident to water service and regis- `tration in cities and towns where the pressure has considerable variation are overcome in every instance, or wherever there is sufficient head inthe main to deliver the water; and, t'urtl1er,`the loca-tion of the meter insures a discharge at any spigot at any time, since the drawing oit' from one in a lower story cannot prevent it from another in an upper story, as in the case where the direct pressure ot' water from the main is relied upon.

That I claim is- 1. The combination, with liquid-measuring cylinders and registering mechanism connected therewith, ot' a governor which automatically regulates the discharge from said cylinders-that is to say, a governor which operates automatically to allow discharge from the measuring cylinder when liquid is drawn oi' from the distributing-pipe and cuts ot said discharge when the tiow from the distributingpipe is arrested-substan tial] y as hereinbefore set forth.

2. The com binatiou, with metercylinders and pipes leading to and from the same, and registering mechanism, of a governor which operates automatically to sim ultaneouslly shut ott' or allow the supply and discharge ot' the me ter, substantially as specified.

3. Thecombination of theeduction governor consisting of a water-receptacle and contained float, the lever, and cocks Tand T', the metercylinders, and pipe for discharging their coutents into said governor-receptacle, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination, with theinduction-governor C D E, the meter'cylinders 'G G, and pipes F F F', connecting them, and arranged as specified, ofthe eductiotrgovernor P R S and cocks T connected therewith and. arranged to regulate supply and discharge of said meter-cylinders, as shown and described.

J. LEEDE.

Witnesses:

AMos W. HART, SoLoN U. KEMoN. 

